Rolex 2011

Haven't seen a thread for this yet this year, so I thought I'd throw it up. USEFnetwork has live coverage of the rolex this year.


Im, pretty excited :]

Yep, I watched some of the dressage this morning.

I wasn't particularly impressed by Phillip Dutton's ride, but he's not the best dressage rider. Cross country is his forte and I'm sure the massive Fernhill Eagle with make the course look like a beginner novice run. Poor Jessica Phoenix had that rear in the middle of her rein back, and the test was pretty nice until then. Gorgeous extended trot, even though she lacked the follow through near the end of it. That horse has a super expressive front end. Of course Allison Springer and Arthur had a phenomenal test. I'm expecting they'll do pretty well this weekend, but I don't think they'll win. We have a ton of huge international names competing tomorrow and I think someone will overtake her, my money is on Mark Todd. He's on his 10th place WEG horse and none of the horses at Rolex are among the 9 that beat him there. And he just won Badminton on a first time four-star horse. He's going to be a major contender this weekend. Kim Severson had a solid test, a little below her usual standard with Paddy but I don't really blame her. She's had a super rough spring season so far and I think she rode just a little more conservatively than she normally would, especially considering Paddy can knock the dressage out of the park. His movement just wasn't the same today. Not as much impulsion and uphill balance as usual.

I also really loved Mary King's ride on her homebred mare, despite the multiple cringe-inducing flying changes. The rest of her test more than made up for them, imho. And of course Boyd and Remington had a lovely test, even though Boyd forgot about the 8 meter circle between the shoulder-in and half-pass. Whoops! Regardless, I'm sure Remington will finish on his dressage score. I'd be incredibly surprised if they didn't.

I WAS THERE! It was so much fun! I loved every minute of it...even though I was EXHAUSTED after cross country day from all the walking! It was so great because they let you get SO CLOSE! Even on stadium day...we were allowed to sit on the rails of the warm-up ring. We were able to love on Mojito and Twizzle while they ate some grass. Pic of me and my daughter on XC!

Wish I could have been there!

Two of the riders I ride with were there. Martha got DQ'd and poor Jil fell off on that darn second to last fence :(
Was still awesome to see them ride!


Looooved seeing Mark Todd!

I wish Mark Todd had had a better XC. Granted, they withdrew before stadium anyway so I have a feeling there was also a slight soundness issue afterwards. But still. Grass Valley was, what, 9th at the WEG? Or 7th? Regardless, none of the horses that beat him were at Rolex, so I feel like he had a really good shot of winning and going 2/3 of the way for the eventing triple crown.

I'm also so, so sad about Will and Twizzel. He was having SUCH a textbook perfect ride until those corners. Granted, he's not the nicest person in the world, but he's just a stunning rider and really makes jumping look effortless. He knows his horses and he knows how to ride.

I was at the corners where Twizzle fell. That whole section was very "squashy" not wet but definitely not dry. I was told by Twizzle's groom later on in the day that she thought that played in to those corners...especially since he rode earlier in the day before the sun really came out.

Eh, possibly. Replaying the videos it looked like Twizzel and R-Star both had the same problem -- They took off a little funky and didn't pick their legs up quick enough. The ground may have had something to do with it, definitely, but so many riders went through without that kind of problem. If it had happened to more people I would be more inclined to think the footing was throwing it off.

I was wondering why they withdrew but didn't really catch it. Too bad. It's the first time I'd really gotten to see that horse and quite liked him. Oh well.

I was at the corner where R-Star fell. Scary stuff! Also, it wasn't the footing that threw R-Star off. She was not paying attention, got her attention at the last minute and she hung a leg.

Hometown favorite Slate River really did an awesome job for his first four star. And even though it says he had a stop at the trakehner, he didn't. It was a misstep and she tried to fight it but they wouldn't budge on the ruling.

James Alliston did great on Parker! Jake had a stop on XC but it's also his first four star so he'll improve next year. Debbie Rosen (also stayed at my barn) was trying so hard to get Al's attention but this year just wasn't his year!

I used to ride with Jil when she was in Cali! I was super bummed to see her fall :(